Strange Sayings

[dune]

I was thinking that if we win this evening and Bournemouth lose then alpine_saint might start getting all positive and put the Kibosh on it (as soon as he complains we usually do well), but I then wondered where this saying came from?

 

I visited the Devils Arse a few years ago ( http://www.peakcavern.co.uk/ ) and on the tour was told how rope making was the occupation of the people who lived there and the saying to make ends meet came from the joining of pieces or rope.

 

Going back to the original question does anyone know the answer and are there any other sayings that we all use but have obscure origins?

[bridge too far]

Toe the line

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toe_the_line

[dune]

There was a bloke who was pefrectly fit but had wangled incapacity benifits. My nan used to call him Spring Heeled Jack. It meant nothing to me, but years later I googled it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Heeled_Jack

 

Not a saying, but an interesting story none the less.

 

BTW Wangled is a strange word...

[dune]

I think i've just found what i'd like Dune to be changed to....

[Verbal]

'Kick the bucket' comes from an old technique way of executing people in Britain in the Middle Ages called the 'short drop' It was an early form of public hanging, where the intention was to cause as much pain and distress as possible to the victim. He/she was stood on a bucket, the noose put around the neck, and the bucket kicked away. Because the drop to the ground was so short, the neck wasn't broken, and the victim slowly suffocated to death. To cover the extreme and frightening facial contortions during this ordeal, masks had to be introduced.

 

Makes you proud to be British.

[Verbal]

I think i've just found what i'd like Dune to be changed to....

 

Short drop?

[dune]

Short drop?

 

spring heeled jack

[Window Cleaner]

I was thinking that if we win this evening and Bournemouth lose then alpine_saint might start getting all positive and put the Kibosh on it (as soon as he complains we usually do well), but I then wondered where this saying came from?

 

I visited the Devils Arse a few years ago ( http://www.peakcavern.co.uk/ ) and on the tour was told how rope making was the occupation of the people who lived there and the saying to make ends meet came from the joining of pieces or rope.

 

Going back to the original question does anyone know the answer and are there any other sayings that we all use but have obscure origins?

 

the origin of the word kibosh is unknown although there are several speculative derivations.So no,nobody does know the real origin.It's a word that just suddenly appeared in the middle of the 19th century.

[Smirking_Saint]

Saved by the bell - There is a widespread notion that the phrase is from the 17th century and that it describes people being saved from being buried alive by using a coffin with a bell attached. The idea being that, if they were buried but later revived, they could ring the bell and be saved from an unpleasant death.

[sperm_john]

the phrase 'go on strike' originated in portsmouth, when the sailors didnt think the ships were stocked well enough for travel or there was a reason they didnt want to go to sea, they would literally 'strike' the sails ...as taught to me by Countdown on the telly some weeks ago ..typically pompey

[Deano6]

I stumbled upon that page a couple of years ago when exploring the context behind Morrissey's track Spring Heeled Jim, off Vauxhall and I.

[Deppo]

spring heeled jack

 

spring heeled t*at